Historically most fuel filters in the past have been constructed of metal. In recent years, in an attempt to use a lighter substance, plastic fuel filters have been manufactured, for example of nylon. It has been determined that in a plastic fuel filter, i.e. those constructed of an electrically non-conductive material, as the fuel is filtered through the filter media, electrons are stripped off and these electrons collect on the inside of the plastic fuel filter. In some instances, this condition has caused arcing of these electrostatic charges from the inside of the housing, through the housing in an attempt to reach a common electrical plane such as the ground of a vehicle chassis. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,076,920; 5,164,084 and 5,164,879 all to Danowski et al address this problem and ostensibly solve it by mixing stainless steel fibers in the plastic resin so that an electrically conductive path is provided through the housing to a common electrical plane, such as the chassis of a vehicle to which the fuel filter is attached. Previous to that, this problem was somewhat unwittingly solved by FIG. 3 of French Patent No. 1,541,025 published Oct. 4, 1969, which shows a fuel filter constructed of a plastic material with metallic materials disposed therein, albeit that the purpose was actually dissipate heat.
It has also come to light recently that another problem with the plastic fuel filter is that it will allow some evaporation of fuel therethrough under certain conditions. Consequently, there is a need for a solution to the use of plastic fuel filters which solve both of the aforementioned problems, specifically the electrostatic charge buildup and the evaporative fuel problem.